Take a look at this FABulous cache of prizes. Not one, not two, but THREE books, a set of book cover magnets, pens, pins, and if that isn’t enough—a DEVIL DUCK!!!!

Now for such a GRAND prize, you are going to have to work. Here’s the deal. Answer this question in 250 words or less:

If you could spend one unbridled night with ANY fictional character, who would it be? Why? What would you do?

Prizes: Legacy, Many Bloody Returns, magnets and pens from me—Jailbait Zombie, buttons and a devil duck from Mario. Deadline: Midnight Sat. March 21—Mario and I constitute the panel of judges and our decision is final (that sounds SO official, doesn’t it?) The winner will be announced on the Biting Edge March 26—

Speaking of Jailbait, click here to see Mario’s clever Lego book trailer! It’s a good thing he has such talented sons. I want to know who the cigar-smoking chump was in the beginning. I chump because he let Mario go. What was he thinking? Besides, as my friend Terry Wright said, I would have PAID Mario to let me pull that tape off his mouth. Come to think of it, several others that I know would have, too. Right Jeff?

Okay, onto the rest of the story.

Personal stuff: Norway bought the first four books in the Anna Strong Chronicles, and Germany, the next three (4,5,6.) Droemer, the German publisher, will release the third Anna Strong book, called Dark Kiss next month.

A great interview with Eliza Dushku re Dollhouse from the AVClub. Here’s a clip:

AVC: It isn’t like Joss is some new kid on the block, though. He has a lot of shows under his belt, and he’s got this large cult following. Is it frustrating when you get that kind of feedback?

ED: Honestly, yes. I understand it from a business perspective, and from Fox’s view, but at the same time, we’ve now done 13 episodes, and people have said that the show took off once they finally realized that Joss is best off left alone to do his thing. That happens around episode six—six through 13 are just extraordinary. I love one, two, three, four, and five, but Joss’ first script that he did after the pilot is number six, which is called “Man On The Street,” and it is just unbelievable. From that point on, the world unfolds in Joss’ way, with Joss’ speed, and it’s really remarkable.

And here’s a trailer for tomorrow night’s episode, Gray Hour. Looks like we have a couple of episodes before we get to the REAL Whedon show.

Another of my favorite Whedon Alums, Christian Kane, gave an interview to iFMagazine. Here’s a bit to titillate and intrigue:iF: You’ve mentioned that you’d like to see your ANGEL co-star and friend David Boreanaz direct an episode of LEVERAGE next season.

KANE: I talked to David, he’s my best friend, and he said, “dude, I should come and direct.” And David directed me a couple of times, and he’s directed on BONES, so hopefully, god willing, we can get him over to direct an episode of LEVERAGE next season.

iF: Do you think if he directed, he’d make an appearance?

KANE: I don’t know if he would make an appearance. It would be very cool if he walked by. He could possibly come in to a play a nemesis. That would be fun. Sam [Anderson] was just on a couple of episodes ago. He played my boss on ANGEL and so it was really cool to work with him, so you never know.

Sign up for a day with James including an exclusive acting "Marstersclass" on Saturday, May 2, at The Drill Hall in London.

James will be taking to the stage to offer people a rare opportunity to see how he tackles acting roles and gets under the skin of a character as part of a day and evening that also includes a concert, Q&A sessions, personalised autographs, photos and much more.

The masterclass will see him join forces with Torchwood co-star Gareth David Lloyd to offer a behind-the-scenes peek into the world of acting followed by a question and answer session about stage, TV and film work. Find out what happened on the set of new movie Dragonball Evolution or what really went on in the Torchwood Hub. How did James become Spike? How did Piccolo evolve?

Tickets went on sale Feb 27—for about $186.00 limited to 150 people.

Sad Passings:

Philip José Farmer, Daring Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 91

Science fiction author Philip José Farmer has died. He was 91. The New York Times observed that he was a writer who "shocked readers in the 1950s by depicting sex with aliens and who went on to challenge conventional pieties of the genre in caustic fables set on bizarre worlds of his own devising . . . Farmer's distinctive blend of intellectual daring and pulp-fiction prose found a worldwide audience. His more than 75 books have been translated into 22 languages and published in more than 40 countries."

"Imagination," he once said, "is like a muscle. I found out that the more I wrote, the bigger it got."

Forrest J Ackerman (Also Known As: 4E, 4SJ, Uncle Forry, Mr. Science Fiction) (born November 24, 1916). Agent, editor, writer, life long fabulous friend. Normally the phrase he is best known for & comes into a piece like this on a person's life and loves. But, Forry is internationally loved and famous and best known for so many things that it would be hard to come up with just one.

He created the phrase "Sci-Fi" and coined several other terms. He did for the genre of SF and Horror what no one else could have done. He made it respectable. He inspired today's film makers to recreate some of the best "B" movies and make them "A" list blockbusters.

He was given a nice send off in the newest Comic-Con Magazine which notes: the world of fandom won’t quite be the same without Forry.

A DVD movie has just been released for Dead Like Me: Life After Death. I came to the TV show late and only caught it in syndication. I loved Ellen Muth. She has one of the most expressive faces in the business. I was enthralled by the series and hope the movie is as good. Anyone out there seen it yet? Here’s the trailer.

Reaper is back! Yippee!

Lost last night – The best episode yet.

Castle – don’t forget to tune in on Monday!

Who is going to see Watchmen this weekend? How about a report if you do?

From the I-don’t-know-where-this-came-from-and-I-don’t-care dept:

I probably should end with naked David, but I love this time of year. I’m certainly no photographer, but these little flowers are popping up in my yard and I just had to share. Ah, spring….

For some reason, most of my links aren't working on this friggin' blogger-- they work everywhere else. Sorry.

Jeanne: The box of goodies arrived Tuesday! Thank you so much! I can't believe all that fit in that little box. Lady K, my soon to be 6 year old, absconded with the vampire teeth, but thankfully let me keep Devil Duck. Thank you for the fifth magnet! And a signed postcard for my bookmark collection. You are the sweetest! The book is on my keeper shelf after I read it.

Thank you for the nekkid pic of David....woof! No pic of Christian, but yay on the pic of James. How cool would the class be?I hope to watch Dollhouse tomorrow night. Have to play it by ear with night time TV since I am bath and bedtime chickie for Lady K. I will at least watch it on Hulu the next day.

I plan to get DEAD LIKE ME movie on DVD. I love that show even from the few I've been able to catch here and there.

Congrats on the Norway gig.

Have to see what time Castle comes on here...might be a Hulu view, too.

The flowers are lookign beautiful Jeanne. I had fennel sitting outside my house last year and will probably grow it again this year since it looks very beautiful. I just have to wait for thsi cold weather to pass! It warms up and then get cold again. I left the heat off last night, and it's amazing I'm not encased in a block of ice this morning.

There are some awesome goodies this contest but I can garuntee that I'm not gonna be picked. I'll probably write in anyway, but I'm warning you up front.

Aand is it just me or does the Grim Reaper have it in for sci-fi fantasy authors these past 6 months? Just asking.

What beautiful flowers. The tot laughed her butt off at Mario's book trailer. She wants to know where she can buy Vampire legos. The tot watched part of doll house with me last night since she refused to sleep and I wnated to watch it, lol. She loved it, tho I'm not sure how tot-appropriate it is. Next weeks episode looks *amazing*. it's the tot's bday so I'll have to make sure we're back from the aquarium and dinner by then...

Well Jeanne - I don't know, it just seems like we've lost a number of good authors in the past 6 mos - year and at least a couple of them were sci-fi or fantasy... or had those elements in thir writing. I could of course be delusional ... that is always an option.

So Dollhouse Ep 4 (http://www.hulu.com/watch/61044/dollhouse-gray-hour) was AMAZING. I am totally hooked, and the reviews left by hulu's users are all positive except for one. Some people are already speculating which character Whedon will decide to kill off. I figure that is a good sign since people are already analyzing the connections with their characters, the importance of them to the show as is, and which death would have the most emotional impact. I say he won’t kill anyone off until the last episode of the season or season two at the earliest. I think there is too much development that still needs to be done. Plus we are still in "Monster of the Week" mode.

For those of you who haven’t seen Joss' other stuff or haven’t seen all the Dollhouse episodes yet I'll just clarify that Joss has NOT said not even indicated that ANYONE will die. However, he does have a fun little habit of killing of main characters ... something that usually has a massive pay off and deep emotional impact. It's also fun to speculate about b/c you never see it coming.

Jeanne said: My guess would be the blonde. It's a good dramatic device, sometimes novelists have been known to use it, too. :-)

Well I had thought about that. Other ideas tossed around on hulu were Amy Acker's character (which others discounted b/c they feel this roll is playing makeup to Amy for her awesome role as Alyeria [sp?] being cut short when Angel was cancelled. I'm not sure on this b/c I think the Dr. is currently being set up to be part of Echo's Scoobies.) Others have mentioned Topher but I think at this point he's too vital to be killed off. I'm thinking it would be either Echo's handler or Sierra. Not only am I already emotionally attached to him, but his death (or possibly that if Sierra) would certainly provide the emotional impact needed to cause Echo to do something drastic. You know ... when she allegedly regains full conciousness etc etc etc.___________________________

Jeanne said: And the problem is???????

No problem. I'm just amused at how much of a softy Anna is when it comes to children :p I have no clue how the Tot became such a devoted Anna fan, but I think it is positively adorable.

Just looking back at your post. I have nto seen Watchmen yet and the feedback from my fellow geeks is very mixed. Some say it is good, others say it's awful, some rest in the "meh" department. I didn't have the money to see it this weekend but if the local 4 screen theatre still has it next week (the next theatre is approx 50 min away) I'll probably go see it then. As for Dead Like Me I started being interested in it after it had already been cancelled, and as a result have yet to actually see it. If nothing else, I'd watch it for Inigo Montoya.